Reolink 4K PoE Security Camera with Human/Vehicle Detection, 5X Optical Zoom with Spotlight, Color Night Vision Motion Alerts Time-Lapse Two-Way Audio, RLC-811A

Tried this camera and it did a great job. I did, however, need night vision in colour and upgraded to the CX810 which offers night colour. Otherwise this camera is very good and the image, unlike some I tried, is very stable,

Impressive quality and significantly better and clearer than the Reolink 1212A 12MP.Colour night vision is outstanding. Even with the led's and infrared switched off the image is very clear.I have a few Reolink models and this is the best by far and even beats the new 12MP 1212a in terms of image quality.

The daylight quality of this camera is excellent. Buy it for the colour but there are a few caveats you need to be aware of which could make this camera as useless as a 1080 HD basic unit, and not the 4K UHD that it sells as.The night time Infra red images are hideously bad with so much software noise that you could never use them as evidence. Even the low light colour images get distorted in low light.And when do you need to review the footage? Usually after a night time incident.It didn't identify the thieves who stole my car parked 30 feet away. Images too blurry.However I've learnt a lot since then. Even after tweaking some controls it missed a theft from a car at night because it can't distinguish between dark clothes and shadows. People dissolve as they go passed, like the invisible man.Third time lucky with another car theft and it has now produced images that can identify a suspect going by. That is because this camera has two saving graces:First it has spotlights. They can either be programmed to come on when triggered or can be timed to be on continuously from dusk until dawn. The former has a better deterrent factor but relies on the sensitivity of the trigger. Someone wearing dark clothes walking in a smooth line in low light won't activate the sensors yet during the day the same setting gives you hundreds of triggered events.I didn't use to use the spotlights because of light pollution for the neighbours but we have agreed that it is worth the hassle and I now have the spotlights on continuously in an already well street-lit road.The other feature that is useful is the optical zoom. For best quality images that can be enlarged with least pixelation obviously zoom in to the smallest area you need to cover. Obviously it's a compromise because still images are not as useful as video and movement so you need some space either either side of the object you are monitoring.The options for image manipulation are huge and I have found that the default settings tend to produce the least grainy colour pictures in low light. Having said that I do actually reduce the contrast as this seems to introduce a huge amount of noise but this means grey clothed people are not easy to see.Another trick to boost quality of night time images if you go for the black&white infrared settings is to get a separate infrared light unit from Amazon and boost the (invisible) 'brightness'. It makes quite a difference. (IR means you cannot see car number plates).Recording: From reading around the subject to find out why night vision is so bad for all makes of cameras I now think I have an understanding. But please check as I'm not an expert on light just an enthusiastic gadgeteer and an annoyingly questioning person! I think that sometimes it isn't automatically best to go for the highest resolution because in low light each sensor only gets a few 'particles' of light and that might not even be enough to trigger the unit. It will show black. With lower resolution sensors they generally have individual 'units' that are bigger but that means that at least those few 'particles' of light club together and trigger a response. You get something. Obviously there is a compromise and this 4K camera when switched to 2k images (8MP to 5MP or 4MP) still produces good images in daylight.The irritation I have with Reolink is their claim for their 4K (8MP) NVR (video recorder) which is not strictly true when it comes to playback. Most people will want to see all camera images being played back at the same time. It saves time and will show a subject's progress across several cameras. If you set this camera to maximum resolution you cannot play back any other camera at the same time. But you can if it is set to 2K (4MP) ...if so you can have all four replays at once.I've invested in a Reolink so am stuck with the brand. I'm disappointed by the IR quality but using this camera's spotlights and selecting colour for day and night I have very good results. Good enough to be used by the police.The ability to record sound is great BUT...and a big BUT, in the UK it is very difficult to record audio legally and if you do you have to be very careful to comply with the Information Commissioner's Office rules or face big fines. A member of the public has the right to request to see any footage of themselves and that would mean allowing them into your home to look at the footage and delete anything with them on it.Images of people when they are in public places are allowed within certain rules; conversations are most definitely a privacy issue. Turn the facility OFF for safety.Would I buy this unit again? Yes and I just have. Good angle of view; great daytime images and with floodlights ok images at night. Lots of options and the ability to set trigger areas and block some other areas from being recorded.Is CCTV worth it if the UK police resources no longer cover car crime and the success rate for prosecuting burglaries is only 3%? Yes, if the home CCTV images are of good enough quality to identify the suspect but at the moment I am told that almost all submitted private videos are so bad as to not be looked at. That will change as more people invest in 4k CCTV that is affordable. Here I think Reolink are excellent. Their products generally punch above their price.

This was simple to set up with a good app and good night vision, I did have an issue and Reolink were excellent in trying to sort it for me. I got consistent help from a named person who helped (thank you Sandy). When it was clear the unit had an unresolveable issue, it was replaced by Reolink. This is a real company with offices in the UK and technical help is freely available and as such I'd recommend.

Having been quite content with the Argus Eco Reolink cameras, I decided to give this bullet camera a go. I went for this particular camera since it has 5x Optical Zoom, SD card recording, and a built-in microphone and speaker together with an LED light. The camera seems to have a solid build quality. Since my first IP camera which I bought over 13 years ago, the options available and functionality have really improved.However, despite all these functions, what's really disappointing is the fact that Reolink cameras don't really support the ONVIF protocol. In the device settings menu, it claims to use ONVIF and the Reolink website is very vague about this function. Reolink states that they recommend using Reolink NVRs with their cameras, however, every camera manufacturer will say this.The "ONVIF protocol" for Reolink cameras only really works with Reolink NVRs. Therefore, you can't use this camera with Hikvision iVMS software or any other NVR. You have to use Reolink's software instead. I have a vast collection of many cameras from different manufacturers which include very cheap devices all the way up to more professional high-grade IP cameras and they all support ONVIF.It's very disappointing that Reolink has decided to create a closed ecosystem forcing you to use their products and software to get full functionality. For this reason, I really cannot recommend this product. If you buy this, you will be stuck with Reolink.I think their solar alarm cameras with PIR sensors are pretty good and wouldn't hesitate to buy those. The alarm cameras work in a different way since they operate in low power and only really switch on when it detects heat, therefore it is sort of understandable that they do not work with NVR systems, but for this product, there really is no excuse. Reolink is very close to producing some excellent cameras. It's a shame that they are preventing themselves from doing so by restricting compatibility. I have returned this item, but if Reolink makes their products ONVIF compatible, I may consider giving them another go.

Really pleased, easy to install, clear video and the app works well.

I bought this camera mainly because it said it was onvif compatible. What it doesn't tell you is that it needs to be configured in the software first. However, once this is done, the camera is seen in my android and Synology apps and works well. The onvif setting is under Port Settings in the Reolink settings webpage.The picture at night is brilliant, given that I have no street lights where I live and it's even better when using the inbuilt flood light. I've bought a few cameras over the years and this is definitely the best.